


Times Change

by GothicDeetz



Category: Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, F/M, Gen, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25341694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothicDeetz/pseuds/GothicDeetz
Summary: Lydia Deetz died after falling through the floorboards of the home she shared with her dad and her stepmother, leaving the two of them ultimately devastated and forced to move back to New York City to move on from the pain of loss.Adam and Barbara Maitland are a recently married couple with a young daughter from a previous marriage of Adam’s. They move into the Deetz house unaware that the house is also occupied by the ghost of a young teenager.Only the Maitlands’ daughter, Amanda Maitland, who is obsessed with death, can see the ghost of Lydia.  Can she convince her dad and stepmom to see her too or will they be forever unaware of the presence of Lydia Deetz?
Relationships: Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz & Original Character(s), Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice) & Original Character(s), Lydia Deetz & Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. The New House

**Author's Note:**

> Am I writing two Beetlejuice: the Musical role reversals at the same time? Yes. Yes I am.

“Your destination is on your left.”

The small Black car driven by father Adam Maitland pulled into the driveway of what was to be their new home. Beside him, his second wife, Barbara, shifted in her seat, both visibly excited and nervous about moving. Behind Adam sat his young daughter from his first marriage. Amanda Maitland, with her long Black locks and her entirely Black clothing, also shifted in her seat and looked up at her new house. It looked creepy on the outside which was perfect for Amanda. She wasn’t obsessed with death for nothing.

‘This place better be creepier and cooler on the inside,’ thought Amanda to herself as she stepped out of the car at the same time as her dad and her stepmother. ‘Who knows, it may come with a ghost or two.’

She’d lost her biological mother to cancer at the age of seven and, despite being obsessed with death as a result, she was devastated and desperately wanted her mother to come back. That didn’t mean she didn’t love her stepmom. In reality, she did. Barbara was very sweet and motherly to her.

She ran to catch up with her dad and stepmom, who had already started to enter the house together. “Dad! Stepmom! Wait for me!” She nearly ran headfirst into her father and he caught her in the nick of time, helping her up to her feet.

“Woah there, sweetheart,” Adam said to his daughter as he dusted her off. “You could have fallen.”

“Dad!” Amanda rolled her eyes. At the tender age of nine, she was quite sassy.

Adam patted his daughter’s hair, laughed, and let her and Barbara go in first before going in after them and closing the door behind him.

The inside of the house, to Amanda’s excitement, was as creepy and cool as she thought it would be. Being a perky nine year-old, she ran around the bottom floor of the house a few times before coming to a stop in front of her snickering dad and stepmom. She wrapped her arms around her dad and her stepmother joined in on the hug. Burying her face into her stepmom’s chest, Amanda mumbled out,

“This house is so creepy and cool. Do you think we’ll be able to see any ghosts?”

Adam put a finger to his chin as he and Barbara let go of Amanda. “Hmm, well, someone did die in this house. Believed to be in their early teens. I doubt we’ll be able to see them though, sweetheart. They probably moved on to the afterlife.”

“Awesome!” Amanda pumped her fist.

Barbara pointed towards the stairs. “Why don’t you go upstairs and check out your new room, honey? Take your mind off of seeing ghosts?”

Amanda excitedly ran up the stairs, leaving her flustered dad and stepmom behind.

On her way upstairs, she caught sight of a room that wasn’t mentioned in the listing of the house. It looked to be attic space and Amanda could have sworn she heard footsteps.

Wondering who - Or what - was behind the door, Amanda forgot all about checking out her new room, went all the way up to the door, and pushed it open.


	2. The Girl and the Ghosts

Amanda wasn't expecting to come face-to-face with another girl (Older than her, but still another girl). This girl looked to be semi-transparent, semi-solid though the solidity was showing more than the transparency. She took a step towards the strange teen girl and the latter stepped away from her, indicating that she was scared. If she was most likely a ghost, why would she be scared? Ghosts were scary, not scared, but not to Amanda. Amanda took another step towards the girl and she moved even further away.

"Don't be scared," said Amanda, extending out a hand for the other girl to take. "I'm not that bad. My name's Amanda. Amanda Jacquline Maitland. You can call me AJ or Mandy or Manda for short. What's your name?"

"You can see me?" The girl began to inch closer to Amanda, now not so scared.

"Yes, I can," said Amanda. "So, you are a ghost." The other girl nodded. "That is so cool... So, what's your name? I don't think you ever told me." She extended out her hand again for the ghostly teen girl to take.

"I'm Lydia, Lydia Deetz. Nice to meet you, Amanda." Lydia took Amanda's extended hand and began shaking it.

* * *

"Honey! Have you seen Amanda anywhere!" Adam shouted over to Barbara as he unpacked yet another box in the kitchen. "She would have come down by now from checking out her new room."

"She's upstairs somewhere!" Barbara shouted back. "I thought I heard a door open and close so I went upstairs to check and her bedroom door was closed. So I came downstairs figuring she must've gone in to check it out. She'll be down soon. I know she will."

All Adam could do was nod, going back to unpacking boxes.

* * *

"So?" asked Amanda as she and Lydia moved to the center of the attic. "What happened to you? How'd you die?"

"Fell through the floorboards of my home," replied Lydia, looking solemnly off to the side as she leaned herself up against a couch. "I was only fifteen. I died young and that devastated my dad and stepmom and they moved back home to New York City to move on from the pain of losing me so early. Especially after what my dad and I went through when he lost his wife and I lost my mom."

"You have a stepmom too? What happened to your mom?" asked Amanda, propping herself up against a chair.

“Lost her to cancer. You said you had a stepmother as well. What happened to your mom?”

“Same reason you lost your mom,” said Amanda, looking up towards the ceiling and spotting a spider-like creature. “Has that spider always being hanging down from the ceiling?”

Lydia looked up as well. “Oh. That’s no spider. That’s just my friend Bj. He often plays tricks on me and this one is one of his favorites. Hey! Betelgeuse! Come down here! I want you to meet someone!”

Amanda laughed. “Betelgeuse? That’s a funny name.”

“He’s quite friendly once you really get to know him,” explained Lydia with a smile on her face. “Was quite troublesome when I first met him after my unfortunate death. He’s... One of the reasons my dad and stepmom left the house. They were so scared of him, they knew they had to leave immediately.”

The spider dropped down from the ceiling and turned into its human form as soon as it touched the ground. He, at least Amanda assumed it was a he, put a hand on Amanda’s shoulder and she looked up at him with wonder and curiosity in her eyes.

“Hi!” said Betelgeuse. “I’m-.”

Lydia face palmed. “Beej, you can’t say your own name, remember?”

“Oh, right,” laughed Betelgeuse. “I forgot.”

“Amanda, this is Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse, this is Amanda. She’s just moved in with her dad and her stepmom.”

“Nice to meet you, Amanda,” said Betelgeuse, turning to Amanda and extending out a hand for Amanda to take. Amanda took it with happiness and smiled up at him.

Amanda looked at Lydia and was about to say something when she and her new friends heard banging on the other side of the door to the attic.

“Amanda! Are you up here! We checked your room and you weren’t in there!”


	3. Nothing Worth Believing

"So, you said there were ghosts in the attic with you? That's preposterous, sweetheart," said Adam with a laugh. Amanda looked at her dad with an angered look on her face.

"But IT is true!" Amanda tried to point out, gesturing a hand towards the stairs that led up to the attic. "I did see them, dad! They were real! Real ghosts! I saw them with my own eyes and they were friendly."

"We won't believe they're real until we see them for ourselves. Until then, let's focus on our regular everyday lives and forget all about them, hmmm??" said Barbara, patting her step-daughter on the head and causing her to grumble and turn away.

"Then I'LL make you see them!" growled out Amanda as she stood up from her seat and stomped all the way upstairs.

"Where're you going, sweetheart?" ask-shouted Adam from where he was sitting.

"Back upstairs to the attic!!!" Amanda shouted back. "I need some alone time from you! That's all!"

"Okay, but don't take too long!" shouted Barbara. "Remember, you need to unpack the boxes we left sitting in your new room!"

"I'll put that to mind!"

Lydia and Betelgeuse stopped their intense game of chase to look concernedly over towards Amanda when she slammed the attic door open with such force. The nine year-old had a look of rage hidden on her face which became a look of relief when she spotted Lydia and Betelgeuse.

"Oh, I thought I was imagining you guys," said Amanda as she plopped down on a beanbag and watched as her two new friends came over to see if she was okay. "I'm glad you two decided to stick around."

"We're stuck here, duh!" Lydia floated over and plopped herself down on a beanbag across from Amanda. "As dead people, Beej and I can't exactly leave the house, Mandy."

"That's rough," laughed Amanda. "My dad and stepmom both refuse to believe you guys are real. I tried to tell them about you two and they just pushed it away like it was a rumor. I don't know how to make them see you!"

"How about haunting them so they leave the house?" suggested Lydia.

"No. They're intent on staying. They don't want to leave."

"How about murdering them so they can be ghosts and be able to see us?" suggested Betelgeuse with a wicked look in his eyes.

Amanda was quick to push that down as well. "No, Bj. No murdering. I don't want to become an orphan and never be able to see you guys again. It would be too sad and you guys are plenty friendly."

"Oh!" Betelgeuse looked sadly down towards the attic floor.

“I can’t stay for long but if you’d like to hang out with me in my room while I unpack, you’re more than welcome to,” said Amanda as she stood up and left the attic. Both Lydia and Betelgeuse looked at one another. What a super great way for them to get to know Amanda better.

They met her in her room, Amanda becoming surprised when she opened her door to find them floating and hanging upside down in midair. She took a while to recover from the shock before entering her room and looking up towards Lydia and Betelgeuse.

“How did you guys get in here before me?” she asked, staring up at the two of them with wide eyes.

“We’re ghosts, remember? We just floated through the floor of the attic and right into your bedroom. What luck that it’s directly below the part of the attic we were sitting in?” said Lydia with a smile as she righted herself and floated down towards Amanda with Betelgeuse following behind. They sat on the floor and watched as Amanda put together her bed with little to no assistance needed.

“That’s a cool looking bed,” commented Lydia.

Amanda started to put the sheets and covers and pillows on. “Thanks. I’ve had it since I was four.” Lydia and Betelgeuse stood up and took a look at the covers, noting how ghost-themed they were.

“How long have you had these covers?” asked Lydia as she turned to look at Amanda.

“Since I was seven. I got them for Christmas.” Amanda began to put away some of her favorite novels (The rest of them were in a box somewhere downstairs. Amanda would worry about looking for them later).

“Let me help,” said Betelgeuse, using his powers to fully decorate Amanda’s room.

The nine year-old stared around at her fully decorated new room, surprised by how fast it was done. The only thing she could say was, “Uh, thanks?”

“You’re welcome!”


End file.
